Kaohsiung Medical University implements The Program on Bilingual Education for Students in College (BEST) with four core goals: creating a bilingual learning environment, enhancing teachers’ ability to use English as a medium of instruction, improving students’ English proficiency, and increasing international mobility and global perspectives. After three years, the university has achieved significant results, summarized as follows:

Teacher Training and Support

1.  Training Programs: The university currently offers diverse and flexible training programs to enhance teachers’ skills in using English as a medium of instruction. These include domestic and international EMI training and online courses.

2.  Teaching Simulations and Feedback: Visiting American scholars have conducted EMI teaching simulations and peer observations, providing valuable feedback and guidance. An English researcher from AIT has also been invited to conduct a one-year teacher-training program at the College of Medicine.

3.  Growth Communities: Twenty internal English teaching communities and a “Taiwan Digital Biomedical EMI Alliance” have been established to exchange ideas and develop EMI strategies and resources.

4.  Support Systems: Revised regulations now include EMI contributions as a criterion in teacher evaluations and promotions. Subsidy programs for English-medium instruction and English proficiency tests have been introduced.

5.  TA Training: EMI TA training has been introduced, including university-level and cross-university courses.

Curriculum Planning and Quality Assurance

1.   Course Offerings: The percentages of English instruction in “Freshman English” and “Advanced English” courses have been increased, and EAP/ESP/EMI courses have been expanded significantly.

2.   Quality Improvement: Assessment questionnaires have been implemented to explore teachers’ needs and students’ experiences, with the aim of enhancing course quality. Feedback on EMI courses has been positive.

3.   Online Self-Study EMI Courses: English-taught courses from international platforms such as Coursera, Udacity, and edX are now recommended to students for online study.

Student Learning

1.   English Immersion Environment: High-quality interactive English-immersion environments have been created through various activities and competitions, such as medical English writing and interview-skills training.

2.   English Interprofessional Education (IPE): The College of Dental Medicine increasingly supports students in participating in study programs at overseas sister schools. Meanwhile, the School of Pharmacy has collaborated with sister schools, facilitating cross-cultural and interprofessional learning in English.

3.   Establishing the KMU ISPOR Student Chapter: The School of Pharmacy has launched the first ISPOR-approved student chapter in Taiwan, providing opportunities for students to participate in international academic communities.

4.   Incentive Mechanisms: Students are rewarded for achieving or exceeding English proficiency thresholds.

Future efforts will focus on deepening teachers’ capabilities in using English as a medium of instruction, improving students’ English proficiency, and enhancing EAP/ESP/EMI course quality.